Old gold mine in Osa Peninsula – home for unique animals

Osa Peninsula is Costa Rica’s most remote place and one of the wildest places on Earth. For many years this area was a shelter to gold diggers, who lived isolated in the rainforest, hoping to find a treasure, digging the ground and sieving the rivers equipped with enormous patience. Gold digging was very popular in the beginning of the 20th century, especially around the Tigre river. Now, this activity seems abandoned, but it attracts tourists, curious to find out more about the tough life of the “Oreros” from the past.

This weekend we organized an expedition in the indigenous reserve of Doz Brazos near the Tigre river – a famous gold site. Our local guide Daniel told us that he has a cave in his propriety, which we wanted to visit. Reaching the entrance, we quickly found out that the “cave” is actually an old gold-mine. Our guide did not know who made the mine and when. Someone had really big hope to find gold, digging thru the soft alluvial sandstone hundreds and hundreds of meters, creating a whole labyrinth of tunnels and galleries, now a shelter for bats, agoutis, frogs and an enormous amount of invertebrate animals, some of which might be unique.